A Villain's Survival Guide

Raine’s POV:

In the training room of Archive Hall, Raine’s dark blade tore through the air with precision. Her crimson eyes narrowed with deadly intensity, white hair dancing through the air.

Her Divine Aura stretched across a five-metre radius, sharpening her senses until she felt everything within it. Every drop of sweat falling from her body. That was exactly what her blade tore through.

"Good. It’s working," she muttered as she moved through the air. Her style with the blade was refined and brutal, and the precision with which she split every drop of sweat in two made it both pleasing to look at and deadly.

Until now she’d only used Vision and her innate ability, Divine Aura, as weapons. But her recent encounter with Leomaris had taught her something: the key to her personality synchronisation with her entity was the undying habit of perceiving all.

Initially, Leomaris had asked her to use the mission, tracking down whoever wanted him dead, as her way of building the habit. She hadn’t dismissed it. But she wanted strength, and one approach alone wouldn’t do.

She’d mulled it over and found her answer. She would build a habit of perceiving everything she did.

This brought her to a trick of her own devising, worked out by implementing Leomaris’s method of creating artifacts. But instead of magic circles, she’d adapted something altogether different.

’By infusing my ability, Vision, with Divine Aura, I can sense anything within this radius, see it as well, and integrate both abilities as a single system.’

After a moment, she realised her hair was sweaty, and her vest was soaked through. Today’s training hadn’t satisfied her. She’d missed far more drops than she ought to have, and even when she caught them, multitasking with Divine Aura gave her precious little to work with in terms of strengthening her body. She could react in time, but that was about it.

She stopped training and dropped to one knee, driving the tip of her sword into the ground and gripping it as her body trembled.

Pulling her Divine Aura back into her body, she healed herself and recovered her strength in a single motion.

"I can’t overdo it... I have work tomorrow, not to mention the exam too."

She stretched out, rested her sword against her shoulder, and walked back to her room.

With her part-time job and studies, she hadn’t had the time to sit and think about what she was fighting for. Restoring her family’s honour. Protecting Leomaris. It all started with strength.

The mid-semester exam was her perfect opportunity. Ace the theory and practical exams, win the combat competition outright. Not only would that prove her overwhelming growth to herself, but it would also bring her a step closer to becoming a Calamity and sorting her money troubles once and for all.

She had every intention of grabbing this opportunity.

—

’I hope Ren is alright... I don’t know what Leomaris was thinking, sending her out there to recruit members of the organization. Still, Ren was eager about it, so I guess it’s not entirely his fault.’

A few minutes past twelve, and Raine St. Claire was done with her morning shift at the café, already on her way to class for an exam that was only minutes away.

Her Divine Aura was heavily concentrated around her eyes, letting her track even the slightest shift in the atmosphere in every direction, building her new habit without exhausting herself.

But it was as though the habit had already settled in. She did all this on instinct, without thinking. Her mind was somewhere else entirely.

A few moments ago she’d walked right past Lucius Cutler. He’d tried to reach out, and she’d blanked him without thinking, probably rudely, and it would sting his pride. They’d been close once. Now she hadn’t given him a second glance.

’I believe the fact that I’ve started to see Leomaris in a new light plays a role... because the main reason I went to Lucius was that I didn’t trust him. But now, I know I must protect Leomaris, not just as his fiancée or ally, but out of responsibility.’

She knew the person who had tried to kill Leomaris was a Calamity. It wasn’t something she’d been able to bring herself to tell him. She believed it would only put him in greater danger. So she’d decided to carry that burden herself and protect him instead.

If she was going to pull that off, every Calamity was someone to watch, Lucius included. All the more reason to become one herself and protect Leomaris from within.

In no time, she arrived at the hall, and right from the entrance, what her eyes fell on made her irritation harder to hide.

Charlotte was at Leomaris’s usual spot. Another Calamity, standing by his side and chatting away with a smile, one Raine couldn’t bring herself to trust.

’Leomaris seems to hold her in high regard. Even after she attacked him and was the reason he nearly died, he still chose to trust her. But I can’t.’

Her anger was getting too obvious. She reined herself in, took her seat, and after more attempts than she’d like to admit, finally found something to distract herself with.

Soon enough, Instructor Abigail walked through the door, an overwhelming stack of sheets in hand. Her presence brought the room to silence as everyone grabbed their seats and awaited her instructions.

"This is your first mid-semester examination, so I will brief you on everything. This exam will heavily influence your end-of-term results, as did the Citadel Simulation test over a month ago. There are over one hundred questions, including chemistry."

Instructor Abigail paused as murmurs broke out across the room, but one clear voice from her throat, and it all went quiet again.

"Chemistry is not a standard cadet class at this academy; however, as mages, you are required to be well-informed in it. Without chemistry, you cannot formulate solutions for your evolution. I believe this was stated in your acceptance letters."

She exhaled.

"However, do not worry. Chemistry is only included in the mid-semester examinations."

Raine had the look of someone who knew exactly what to expect.